Apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale



R. KOLLER July 28, 1931.

APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRESENTATION OF OBJECTS FOR SALE Filed May 22, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jnvema v I Faber? Ko//e k 65% July 28, 1931. R. KOLLER 1, 6,732

APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRESENTATION OF OBJECTS FOR SALE Filed May 22, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 28, 1931. R. KOLLER 1,316,732

I APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRESENTATION OF OBJECTS FOR SALE Filed lay 22, 12950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 'KOLLER July 28, 1931.

APPARATUS FOR THE AUTOMATIC PRESENTATION OF OBJEC1 ,'S FOR SALE Filed lay 22, 1930 4 sheets-sheet 4 9/47/9/1/17/123.. v'll Patented July 28, 1931 PATENT orricr;

RGBERT KGLLER, OF BADEN, SXVITZERLAND APPARATUS FOR THE AUTGIEATIG PERESENTATION OF OBJECTS FOR SALE Application filed May 22, 1930, Serial No.

This invention relates to mechanism for displaying objects for sale and particularly costumes, and the general object of the 11 1- vention is to provide a structure of this character which is so designed that a very large number of objects may be presented one by one to view and automatically.

A further object is to provide a construc tion of this character embodying generally speaking an endless chain upon which the objects to be presented are supported preferably on hangers and to provide trolley having means for supporting a hanger and the costume thereon, provide means for transferring one by'one the objects from the endless chain to the trolley, the trolley then moving to a display position and the object being turned or rotated one or more times in this display position, and provide means for automatically removing the object from the trolley and replacing it upon the endless chain.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein 1- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front elevation of my apparatus:

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the mechanism Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the apparatus;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary vertical section of the means whereby the current is led to the motor of the trolley;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation of the track with the rib for opening the jaws;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the arm which receives a hanger and costume from the llllll supporting rack and transfers it to the trolley;

Figure 6 is a top view of the construction shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a eetailed View showing the manner in which the hangers are deposited upon the arm from the endless rack;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of the transfer arm and its controlling cams, the view also showing in front elevation a fragmentary portion the trolley 454 804, and. in Germany April 24, 1929-.

to show the manner in which the hanger is transferred to the trolley;

Figure 9 is a' side elevation of the endless chain constituting the main supporting rack, which chain acts as a carrier for the objects;

Figure 10 is a front elevation of the structure shown in Figure 9; p

V Figure 1.1 is a side elevation of a portion of the rail; V V Figure 12 is a section on the line 12- 12 of Figure 11; j j

Figure 13 is a side elevation of the mechanism whereby the rack chain is given. a step by step movement; j I

Figure 14 is an end elevation of the mech anism shown in Figure 13; j

Figure 15 is a top plan View of the structure shown in Figure 13;

Figure 16 is a diagrammatic illustration of the driving chain for the rack, the chain being shown in dotted lines and showing a stop whereby the chain is operated by the trolley;

Figure 17 is an end elevation of the troh ley the lower portion being in section;

Figure 1.8 is a side elevation of the trolley and a portion of the rail at the joint where the trolley is automatically stopped and rotated;

Figure 19 is a fragmentary top plan view of the rail shown in Figure 18;

Figure 20 is a diagrammatic plan view of the lower portion of the trolley below the motor;

Figure 21 is a r-ear'elevation of the motor and trolley;

Figure 22 is a fragmentary side elevation of the trolleyand motor, and Figure 23 is a perspective View of mechanism for releasing the shiftable track section.

In the drawings, it is assumed that articles of clothing are being displayed, these articles being suspended on hangers. l

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, w designates a rail which is somewhat elliptical in form, generally speaking, and has a straight por= tion, two semi-circular portions, and an outwardly curved front portion whereon the article to be displayed to the public.

E 4 g p llel to the strai ht ertain of the rail or track a is an endless carrier shown in detail in Figure 9, the carrier being designated C and being formed of pivoted links operating over sprocket wheels 0 0 these wheels being mounted upon the support 6 through which the shafts Z", Z of the sprocket wheels pass. The means for driving the endless carrier will be later stated.

Each link of the chain C is formed to provide a depressed portion 0 in which the hooked end of a hanger 3 engages as shown in dotted lines in Figure 10. Thus a row of hangers is supported one after the other upon this endlesschain. This endless chain is given an intermittent step by step forward movement in the direction of the arrow, Figure 9, to discharge the hangers one by one on to a transfer arm, as will be later stated.

The arm is designated generally F and is pivoted for swinging movement in a horizontal plane upon the vertical shaft P The transfer arm F, referring to Figure 2, swings from the point P to a point P in coincidence with the movement of the trolley and then swings back again to the point P During this movement it transfers the article of clothing with its hanger from the endless chain C to the trolley. The trolley is designated generally M and the motor M. This trolley operates upon the rail a as previously stated and acts after the article has been displayed to carry the article back to and discharge it upon the rear end of the endless chain at the point P. As will be seen from Figure 3, the shaft P constitutes one of the supporting posts or standards of the apparatus.

The. transfer arm is shown in detail in Figures .5 and 6. The transfer arm comprises a collar f which fits loosely upon the vertical shaft P and is urged in one direction by a spring Z.

Pivote'd to'the collar f is a tubular section f Telescoping within this tubular section is an outwardly slidable section 7 carrying upon it the collar n and urged rearward or toward the collar 7 by means of the contractile spring Z. The outer portion of the section f of the arm F carries upon it the seat 8 which is formed with the spaced upwardly and outwardly divergent arms, as shown in F igure 7. This figure shows that du ing the operation of the chain C, a hanger y will drop on to these arms and be supported, as shown in Figure 5. The arm F projects into the path of movement of the trolley M and is engaged by a portion of the trolley as the trolley moves from the position P around to the position P in Figure 2. During this movement, the hanger must be deposited upon and engaged with the trolley and for this purpose the arm F must be extended and raised. This is the reason for forming the arm F of two telescopic sections and f and pivoting the section f to the collar 7. As a means for lifting the arm so as to carry its outer end to the proper level for the transfer, I pro vide a cam surface designated a and a in Figure 6. The part a is flat, the part a is upwardly inclined and the part a extends downward to the level of the part a. A roller n is mounted on the collar 1.? which is fast upon the rod f and this roller 7L- rides on this surface a and up the inclined surface a and then downward again in moving from the point P to the point It is necessary also to project the rod f and to that end I provide a vertically extending cam-shaped wall formed of the portions 10* and a the portions u being concentric to the center of movement of the arm F but the portion 10* being eccentric to this path of movement.

Mounted upon the pin a which supports the roller n is a horizontally disposed roller 11, which is adapted to be engaged by the wall a so that as the arm swings from the point P to the point P in Figure 6, the eccentric portion a of the vertical cam will act to shift the rod f outward and at the same time the arm F will be upwardly tilted to thus carry the hanger upward and toward its point of engagement with the trolley. This is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 8.

Before explaining the mechanism of the trolley itself, it is best to explain that the trolley, as illustrated in Figures 17 and 18, carries upon it a vertical shaft T which supports at its lower end a clamp T composed of the two jaws t this clamp being substantially in the form of the ordinary spring clothes pin. The lower ends of the jaws are formed to receive the hook of the hanger'y, the spring of the clamp normally holding the jaws closed. This clamp is automatically opened by means of a lever t (see Figure 18) which is mounted upon one of the jaws of the clamp and which is adapted to engage with a downwardly extending rib D shown in Figure 5 which projects downward from the track a and which is beveled at one end. This lever 6 as shown in Figure 17, is angular in form so that the lever may engage the rib and be deflected to cause the opening of the jaws. This occurs between the point P and the point P in Figures 2 and 6, the downwardly extending web D being shown in dotted lines in Figures 6, the point of transfer of the hanger to the trolley occurring at the point designated p in Figure 6, as the trolley moves from the position P to the position P in Figure 6. The end of the rod 7 is upwardly extended as at f and is designet to be engaged with the'clamp- T so that when the trolley reaches the position P moving in the direction of the arrows in Figure 2, it will engage this member f and start to swing the arm F in a semicircle. As it does so, the rollers n and a will cause the upward tilting movement of the arm F and the outward projection of the rod f and this will carry the seat 8 outward and upward and bring the upper hook of the hanger into position between the jaws which are then opened by the rail D Then the lever t of the jaws T has passed off the rib D the jaws will close under the action of the springs thereon and the arm will have then been lowered and moved inward slightly by the inwardly extending portion of the wall a as shown in Figure 6. The trolley moves on and moves eccentrically to the extremity of the arm F shown diagrammaticaly in Figure 2 and as soon as the trolley has passed the arm F, the arm will swing back to its initial position by means of the spring a ready to re ceive another garment from the endless rack or chain C.

The trolley M supports the electric motor M. This motor as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4: takes its current from a flexible conductor X. This conductor is carried over a pulley X supported on an arm X which swings around a center, the conductor extending downward in a bight and then upward and within this hight or loop there is disposed the pulley of a weight X which keeps constant tension on the conductor. The two wires of the conductor are connected to contacts X and X shown in Figure 4, these engaging, one with a central contact X and the other with an exterior annular contact X These are connected by wires X and X to a source of current. The weight X balances the arm X. It will thus be seen that as the trolley rotates,the arm X rotates and carries the conductor with it.

For the purpose of driving the. trolley, the

trolley is provided with the'vertical shaft (see Figure 17) carrying upon it the worm wheel h driven by a worm h. The shaft of the worm h carries upon it the band I) driven by aband wheel M on a motor 'M. The lower end of this shaft is carries upon it the gear wheel or rack wheel 70 The track a is U-shaped in cross section, as shown in Figure 12, and one wall of this track isprovided with rack teeth 0 (see Figure 18). At one point, these rack teeth are mounted upon a swingable section of the track, as will be later stated, but at this time it may be considered that the engagement of the rack wheel k with the teeth 0 cause the travel of the trolley continuously around the track a in the direction of the arrows in Figure 2 .As illustrated in Figure 2, it is necessary when the trolley has reached the position P that the garments should be rotated one or more times inorder to display the garment to the observer. ,Tothi's end, the shaft T which supports the jaws T carries at its upper end, the gear wheel i This gear wheel is engaged by an intermediate gear wheel 7?. i

Shiftably mounted upon the shaft 70 is a gear wheel v1 When this gear wheel is shifted downward, it engages the intermediate 2' and will thus act to rotate the shaft T supporting the jaws T. WVhen the gear wheel is shifted upward, however, it releases its engagement with the gear wheel 2' For the purpose of shifting this gear wheel 2' I provide the angular gear shifting lever 71 which is pivoted at 2' and provided with a fork at its upper end, which fork embraces the sliding gear wheel 2' A spring i as shown in F igure 17 normally acts to pull the downwardly extending portion of the lever inward and thus raise the fork and lift up the gear wheel 2' i is provided with a roller 17. The trolley is provided with the wheels 1' which engage the vertical lateral walls of the rail a, that portion of the trolley which supports the shaft T extending down at one side of this rail as shown in Figure 17 and carrying on it the roller 1 which bears against the under face of the rail to hold the trolley on the track.

At or adjacent the point P one wall of the rail is slotted as shown in Figure 17 and the teeth 0 are omitted at this point. Pivoted upon a rod 9 is a section 9 which has an inwardly extending flange g which is toothed and inserted through the slot in the lateral flan e of the rail a as shown clearly in Figure 1 This section extends laterally outward and is provided with the upwardly extending flange 9*, this flange being beveled at 9 Below this flange 9, this section 9 has an outwardly extending flange 9 A spring 9 urges the section 9 upward so as to carry the toothed flange 9 into position to be engaged by the toothed wheel W. The trolley carries upon it at one side the lever w which carries on it the roller W. The upwardly extendingflange qis disposed to be engaged by this wheel W. By means, now to be described, the lever 10- is prevented from upward movement by means of a stop t so that when the wheel W arrives on the inclined portion of the flange q, it will force this flange downward, tilting the section g. upon its pivotal axis 9 and thus carrying the teeth-on the flange 9 out of engagement by the wheel 70 As the section g swings downward, the flange g bears against the roller 2" and forces this roller outward, shifting the pinion 2' downward into engagement with the ear wheel 2' thus transmitting power to the shaft T and causing the rota- The lower end of this lever tion of this shaft, during which time the trolley is stationary. It may be explained that after this rotation has occurred and been automatically stopped, the section g again rises to the positionshown in Figure 17, which causes the gear wheel Q1 to again move upward out of engagement with the gear wheel 11 and thus the rotation of the shaft T is stopped and the driving gear wheel 72 is again engaged with the track and the trolley moves on. The means for accomplishing this is shown in Figures 20, 21 and 23.

As heretofore stated, the lever 10 is held from any upward swinging movement by the stop t. This stop is pivoted at t and normally is disposed immediately above the lever 10 but is capable of swinging away from this lever to permit the upward movement of the lever. This stop is provided at its upper end with a laterally projecting pin t Pivotally mounted upon the under face of the casing for the motor M is a bell crank lever i which at its end has loose engagement with a longitudinally and vertically movable link 2' this link at its forward end being formed like a latch, that is, with a latch recess 7: which engages over the pin The spring 11* is engaged with the bell crank lever i Mounted on gear wheel 2' is an upwardly extending pin 2', and the adjacent extrem ity of bell crank lever projects into the path ofmovement of this pin 2' The instant gear wheel 2' commences to revolve, when pinion 2' is lowered, this pin begins to travel and when shaft 17 has made one complete revolution, the pin engages the extremity of bell crank lever i shifting link 7? toward the right in Figure 23 and shifting stop t away from its position over the upper end of the lever 10 thus allowing this lever to lift. The lifting of this lever with wheel W permits spring to return the section of track q to its initial position, as in Figure 17. The link 71 is held against spring i by lever 10 which has now been raised by the action of spring 9 on section 9 and in order to return the stop 25 to its normal position, I have provided a link i pivoted at its upper end to the latch member 2' and at its lower end having an eye through which passes one end of an angular lever 6 this lever having a depending nose asshown in Figure'21.

The track a has projecting from it-the cam P see Figure 21, and as soon as the trolley has moved from the position P in Figure 2, the lower end of lever I will engage this cam P and the lever will be lifted, lifting up on the link i and the latch 6 permitting the stop t to swing to its dependingposition, that is the position shown in Figure 18. The-parts are then more in normal position and the trolley continues its travel to the point 1? in Figure 2.

The trolley travels back to the point P in Figure2 and at this point, the lever p is engaged by the depending rib D and the jaws are opened by lever t when the jaws T are immediately above the first link of the series of links constituting the chain 0, as shown by the arrow in Figure 9. At this point, the jaws are opened and the hanger drops upon the link, as shown in Figure 9, and is carried forward to the discharge point, as also shown in Figure 9. This completes the circuit of the costume being displayed and the trolley then picks up another hanger from the forward end of the chain in the manner previously described and displays it.

It is necessary, of course, to cause the step by step movement of the chain C. The mechanism for this purpose isvillustrated in Figures 13 to 16. The chain C is disposed on one side of the rail or, and dis-' posed on the opposite sideof the rail a is an endless sprocket chain d. This is trained over the sprocket wheels 9 9 (see Figure 15) mounted upon the shafts g and g. The shaft carries upon it the pinion g engaged by gear wheel 9 This carries a crank pin connected by a link Z to a pawl-carrying lever Z pivoted at Z the pawl of this lever engaging with a ratchet wheel Z This ratchet wheel Z is mounted upon the shaft Z which supports the sprocket wheel 0 for the chain C. The opposite sprocket wheel 0 is mounted upon a shaft Z carrying upon it the ratchet wheel Z Operating concentrically to the ratchet wheel Z is the pawl carrying lever Z which carries a pawl engaging the ratchet teeth wheel Z. This lever Z is connected by a link Z to a crank pin on the gear Wheel 9 and the gear wheel 9 engages with a pinion g on the shaft 9 which carries the sprocket wheel 9 which supports the chain (Z. The chain (5 carries upon it the steps al as shown in Figure 16 adapted to be engagedby the jaws T or an equivalent part. Thus, as the motor moves along the straight portion of the track from the point P to the point P the chain 6 will be shifted longitudinally and will cause a rotation ofthe gear wheels 9 and g" and the intermeshing gear wheels g and g which will cause an oscillation of the pawl carrying levers Z and Z and the pawls of these levers will cause, therefore, a one step movement of the wheels Z and Z which in turn cause a one step movement of the chain carrying wheels 0 and 0 thus causing a one step movement of the chain C and the deposit of a hanger upon the seat a of the arm F, as previously described.

Inasmuch as the operation of these parts has been heretofore described and the gen eral operation of the mechanism has been stated, it is not believed necessary to recapitulate these matters.

WVhat I claim as my invention and'desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. An apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale comprising an endless track having a straight portion, a movable carrier extending parallel to the straight portion and formed to support a plurality of article hangers, a trolley running upon the track in one direction and having a motor, means for transferring the article hanger from the movable carrier to said trolley, means for transferring the article hanger again to the endless carrier when the trolley has reached a point adjacent the beginning of said straight portion of the track, and means actuated by the trolley for giving a step by step motion to the endless carrier for each complete travel of the trolley.

2. An apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale comprising an endless track having a straight portion, a

movable carrier extending parallel to the straight portion and formed to support a plurality of article hangers, a trolley running upon the track in one direction and having a motor, means for transferring the article hanger from the carrier to said trolley, means for causing the article hanger to be automatically rotated when the trolley reaches a predetermined portion of the track remote from said straight portion, and means for transferring the article hanger again to the endless carrier when the trolley has reached a predeterminedpoint at the beginning of said straight portion of the track.

3. Apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track having a straight portion, a motor operated trolley moving thereover in one direction, an endless carrier disposed with its upper and lower flights in a vertical plane, the upper flight being parallel to the straight portion of said track, means for automatically transferring objects one by one in succession from one end of the carrier to the trolley, means for transferring the object supported on the trolley to the other end, of the endless carrier, and means actuated by the trolley for moving the endless carrier one step in one direction.

for each complete travel of the trolley, including supporting wheels for the end less carrier having shafts, ratchet wheels mounted upon said shafts, pawls engaging said ratchet wheels, a crank and crank shaft for each ratchet wheel, a connecting rod from the crank pin to said pawl, gear wheels one foreach crank shaft, a sprocket wheel associated with each gear wheel, a sprocket chain extending over the sprocket wheels,

and a stop carried by the sprocket chain with which the trolley operatively engages on each complete round of the trolley to thereby movethecarrier Wheel one step for each complete round. v 4. Apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track having a straight portion, two semicircular end portions and an intermediate portion opposite the straight portion and spaced therefrom and between the two end portions, which intermediate portion exitends outwardly in a slight curve, an endless chain extending parallel to the straight portion of the track and formed to support a plurality of article hangers in equally spaced relation, a motor operated trolley running in one direction over said track and having means for supportlng a hanger,"

means for automatically moving the endless chain in one direction step by step at each round trip made by the trolley on the track, said movement being equal to the space between any two hangers, and means for transferring an article hanger from oneend of the endless chain to] the trolley in-' cludlng an arm swinging in a circle contrack having a straight portion and two semi-circular portions, a carrier comprising an endless chain extending parallel to the straight portion of the track and formed to support a pluralityof article hangers] in evenly spaced relation, a motor operated trolley running in one direction over said track and having means for supporting a hanger, means for automatically moving the endless chain inone direction step by step at each round trip, made by the trolley on the track a distance equal to the space between any two hangers, means for transferring the article from one end of the endless cliain to the trolley including an extensiblearm swinging in a circle concentric to one circular portion of the track and receiving the first hanger of the series on said chain and carrying said hanger around the said semi-circular portion of the track, means for swinging said arm with the trolley in one direction and releasing it after a predetermined movement, means, acting on the arm as it swings with the trolley, for simultaneously lifting and extending said arm to bring the hanger into operative position it again upon thechain.

V 6. Apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track having a straight portion, two semicircular portions into which the straight portion merges and an intermediate outwardly curved portion between the semicircular portions, an endless carrier disposed parallel to the straight portion of the track and formed to support a plurality of article hangers in evenly spaced relation, a motor operated trolley running in one direction over said track and having means for supporting a hanger, means for transferring an article from one end of said endless carrier 'to said trolley including a'radially eX- tensible arm mounted for swinging movement concentric to one semi-circular por tion of the track, said arm being vertically movable, the outer end of the arm having means thereon for receiving a hanger discharged from one end of the endless carrier, means for swinging the arm with and at the same speed as the motor around the semicircular portion of the track and simultaneously raising said arm and extending it to thereby carry the hanger into a position to engage the trolley, means acting as the arm and trolley reach the end of the semi-circular portion to lower and retract said arm to thereby bring it in position to receive another hanger, and means for causing the hanger to be released from the trolley and deposited again upon the chain.

7. A device for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track having a' generally elliptical form,'the track having a semi-circular portion, an endless carrier extending parallel to one portion of thetrack and formed to support a plurality of article hangers in evenly spaced relation, a'motor operated trolley moving continuously in one direction over said track and having means for supporting a hanger, said means including spring actuated jaws, means for automatically moving therendless carrier in one direction step by step at each round trip made by the trolley a distance equal to the space between any two hangers, means for transferring an article from one endof the endless carrier to said trolley including a telescopic arm mounted for oscillation around an axis concentric to one of the semi-circular portions of the track, a spring acting to return the arm to a position with its receiving end adjacent to the discharge end of the endless carrier, the trolley in its movement engaging said arm tocause a coincident movement of the arm with the trolley until the trolley passes out of the range of movement of the arm, means as ravesone of said wheels operates and having an upwardly inclined portion, and a succeeding downwardly inclined portion, and a wall against which the other of said wheels operates having a portion eccentric to the path of movement of the trolley and a succeeding portion concentric to the path of movement of the trolley.

8. An apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track, a hanger support extending parallel to a portion of the track, a motor operated trolley moving on the track, means for receiving an article hanger from one end of the hanger support and delivering it to said trolley, means for releasingcthe hanger from the trolley and depositing it again upon the track, and means for driving the trolley along the track comprising a rack formed on the track, and a gear wheel driven by the trolley and engaging the rack. v

9. Apparatus for the automatic presentation of objects for sale including an endless track, a motor operated trolley moving thereover, the track being formed to provide a rack and the trolley'having a gear wheel engaging the rack and operated by the motor of the trolley, means for suspending a row of article hangers parallel to a portion of the track, means for transferring the hangers one by one in succession from one end of the row to the trolley, means for transferring the hanger on the trolley to the other end of the row, and means for causing a display rotation of the articles supported on the hanger comprising a vertical shaft mounted on the trolley and having a hanger support at one end, means for holding the shaft from rotation as the hangers move to a display position, means for then holding the trolley from movement on the track and simultaneously rotating said shaft, and means for then reengaging the trolley with the track and holding the shaft from rotation while the trolley moves along the remainder of the track.

10. An apparatus of the character stated engageable by the gear Wheel when the trolley reaches this portion of the track, means for simultaneously engaging the motor With the rotatable shaft, and means for automatically disengaging the motor from the shaft after a predetermined number of revolutions of the shaft and again throwing the movable rack section into position to be engaged by said gear Wheel.

ROBERT KOLLER. 

